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  Man Sues over Abuse by Convicted Priest

By Lisa Donovan
Chicago Sun-Times
July 9, 2010

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2480242,CST-NWS-mccormack09.article

Says he was molested starting in seventh grade

A man who alleges he was molested repeatedly in grade school and high school by defrocked Roman Catholic priest and convicted sexual abuser Daniel McCormack filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The man -- listed only as James C. Doe -- alleges in the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court that the abuse began in 2000 when he was in seventh grade at Our Lady of the Westside elementary school and continued for about six years.

"Through his junior or senior year in high school (2004-2006), McCormack maintained a sexually abusive relationship with Doe," according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiff not only attended school but also played basketball at Our Lady of the Westside, where McCormack taught and coached.

McCormack, 41, received a five-year prison term after pleading guilty in 2007 to charges he fondled five boys. It was unclear from court papers whether the boy in this case was among the victims in the criminal case. McCormack remains behind bars.

The suit alleges the archdiocese and Cardinal Francis George "breached the duties of reasonable care" by allowing McCormack to become a priest and then moving him to various parishes, even as sex abuse allegations dogged him in the seminary and priesthood.

The most damning allegation in the suit is that McCormack continued to abuse the boy after police questioned McCormack about a sex abuse case in 2005 and church superiors ordered him not to have contact with minors.

ldonovan@suntimes.com

 
 

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